The present invention relates generally to alarms on mobile devices and, more particularly, to preventative and reactive alternative event notification methods for ensuring an alarm is provided when a mobile device powers off due to battery drain.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, are commonly provided with an alarm clock application. The user of the mobile device can define alarm settings in the alarm clock application including date, time, ringtone, and snooze settings. In this manner, the mobile device can be used in lieu of a traditional alarm clock. However, unlike a traditional alarm clock, a mobile device typically must have its battery recharged about once a day. Given this frequency of battery drain and recharge for mobile devices, it is common for a user to miss their alarm because their mobile device runs out of battery charge prior to the time that is set for the alarm to sound.
For example, on a particular evening, a user may set the alarm on their smartphone for 6:00 AM the following morning. Between the time the user sets the alarm and the scheduled time of the alarm, the smartphone may consume all its battery power (e.g., by one or more other applications running on the smartphone during this time period before the scheduled time of the alarm). In this scenario, due to the drained battery, the smartphone turns off (powers off) prior to the scheduled time of the alarm. This results in the smartphone being off and thus not emitting the alarm sound at the desired time of the alarm (e.g., at 6:00 AM in this example). The user thus misses their alarm and might oversleep and miss an event.